Owl of Illusion
by The Snazzy Hat
Summary: Kazaki Hoge is a normal student with a loving family, but when something odd flies through his window, he is exposed to a strange new world of monsters and combat he has to adapt to. But the question is, will he be able to give the rogue spirit a better master than his last?


I was used to living a normal existence. I was happy then. A teenager in Highschool, I had above average grades, loving parents and a group of friends I could rely on. Now, even though I still have most of those things, I have a lot more on my plate than just tests and exams.

It was a nice cool night after school. I was walking down the quiet streets of my town, a little, quiet place called Karakura Town. Living in the Minimikawase district wasn't too bad. I mean, the Kurosaki Clinic was pretty close by if any of the family ever became ill, since it was pretty much a stone's throw from our house. Though Dad never liked the Kurosakis for some reason. Said they weren't to be trusted. I love my Dad, but sometimes I think he's just being paranoid. He said he could never trust a family that has such a delinquent for a child. I had never really seen said 'delinquent', but Dad was only going off the colour of his hair for what I know.

I had arrived home, a squat little brown house with big windows. Dad always said that big windows were the only kind to have. Mum liked them too. She said that they always gave that touch of homeliness.

"I'm home!" I called as I opened the front door and slid off my shoes.

"Kazaki! You're late again." My mother chided.

"I know, I know." I sighed. "But you can't stay mad at me after I got such good grades, right?"

"Don't push your luck young man!" she laughed.

"So how's the homework? I expect you've got some more by now." Asked Dad, looking up from his newspaper.

"Yeah, just a little though. So I'd best get it out of the way before dinner."

"Good man!"

I climbed the stairs to my room and dumped my bag to the floor. Sitting down in the leather wheelie chair, I booted up my computer and got to work with my research. I had this huge assignment on the species of birds of prey. As the minutes ticked by, I became aware of a presence outside my window. Sliding open the window, I looked over and saw a large barn owl with huge silver eyes perched in a tree outside my window, looking at me with interest.

"Huh. I didn't know that owls made nests here." I mused. The owl took notice of this and looked at me with its intelligent silver eyes. Spreading its wings wide, it glided over and perched on my windowsill.

"Greetings."

"What the- You can talk?!" I asked.

"I can do many things. But for now, yes I can talk. I have been studying you human."

"As I have been studying you." I chuckled glancing over to my computer.

"You know of Zanpakuto?" the bird asked, head tilted to the side.

"Zanpakuto?" I echoed. "Nope. Never heard of one of those before."

"Hmm. I suppose I expected too much from a human." The bird huffed, feathers bristling as it hopped from the window to my bed. "However, I suppose if you are worthy, I shall teach you."

"Worthy? Worthy of what?"

"Kazaki! Dinner's ready!" called my mother from downstairs.

"Alright! I'm coming!" I shouted back before turning to the odd bird. "Do you want anything? I can see if I might be able to get you something."

"Some meat if you please. I've had the odd craving ever since I materialised in this body."

I dropped down the steps and asked if I could eat upstairs. I don't think Mum and Dad would be so accepting of a mystical talking owl. Grabbing a second steak from the table and some vegetables, I ran back upstairs and closed the door.

"Steak? What an odd thing to eat here."

"Mum's always loved western food. She can't get enough of the stuff." I shrugged.

"Hmm. It is a shame the meat isn't raw, but one must work with what he's given." The bird shrugged, picking up a steak in its beak. "Even though I must say, the cook is excellent."

"I'm sure Mum would love to hear that."

The owl and I ate in silence for the rest of the meal until the owl broke the silence.

"Thank you very much for the meal. I believe you might be worthy after all."

"No problem. Though you haven't told me what I might be worthy for."

"All will be revealed in due course. Provided you prove you are worthy."

The owl suddenly spread its wings and soared out the window, as if carried by an invisible wind. I ran to the window and watched it fly away until it disappeared from sight. Shaking my head, I sat back down at my computer to continue my research.

"What a weird day."

*v*v*v*

*v*v*v*

I woke up the next day feeling oddly expectant. I had no test results coming in, and I still hadn't finished the due assignment. Rolling out of the bed, I got dressed in my uniform and picked up my bag.

"Morning Kazaki." Grinned Dad.

"Morning." I replied. "I'm off to school now. I don't want to be late."

"Alright. Knock 'em dead!" he laughed.

"It's only school Dad."

Shutting the door, I started to walk down the concrete street. I was soon joined by the owl from yesterday, who sat perched on my shoulder!

"Greetings Kazaki. I trust you slept well?"

"Considering the circumstances, yes." I replied. "Though I don't know how people are going to react when they see I have a talking owl riding around on my shoulder."

"Don't worry. Only those with high spiritual power may be able to see me."

As we continued to walk down the road, we approached my High School. The large concrete buildings of Karakura High rose up into the sky, casting a shadow over the rest of the campus. A gang from the other local school, Miyahita Commercial High School were crowded around the gate.

"Great! It's going to be impossible to get around those thugs." I sighed.

"Leave it to me." The bird said, swooping off my shoulder and in front of the gang. A bright light flashed for a moment, and one of the gang called out.

"Shit! It's the cops! Everyone run for it!"

The gang all scrambled over each other in their race to escape the police, who I noticed didn't exist.

"What the heck was that?" I asked in complete confusion. The owl swooped back onto my shoulder, a smug look on its face.

"There. Now we are unimpeded."

"Yeah, thanks for that. But what was that you just did?" I asked the bird. Things were getting more interesting by the minute.

"I have the power of illusions at my disposal. I simply made them believe that the authorities were coming to clear up their little gathering."

"Well… That's a very helpful thing to have." I nodded.

The bell to start classes tolled loudly as I rushed to class, slightly unbalancing the bird on my shoulder.

*v*v*v*

*v*v*v*

"Kazaki Hoge?" Asked the teacher, looking around the classroom.

"Here!" I said as I burst into the classroom, owl still sitting uneasily on my shoulder.

"Almost late it would seem." The teacher huffed.

"Almost." I grinned, sitting down at a vacant desk. Digging out my notebook and pencil case, I couldn't help but notice that someone was looking at me oddly.

"It appears there is another that is able to see me." The owl whispered.

"Who?" I whispered back.

"A man with brown hair and a dumb expression on his face."

"Keigo Asano. I don't think we need to worry about him. He's a little loud, but harmless."

The rest of the class and day proceeded as normal until the bell rang for lunch. While walking to the lunch area, the owl suddenly disappeared!

"What the…"

"Something wrong?" asked a voice.

"Hey, you're Keigo's friend aren't you?" I asked. "Ichigo, right?"

"Yeah, that's me." He replied. "Did you lose something?"

"Uh, no I don't think I did." I said.

"Right. See you then." He waved.

"Yeah." I mumbled as he rounded the corner. As he vanished from sight, the owl materialised on my shoulder again and the feeling of his weight returned.

"That was close."

"What was all that about?" I asked.

"I have a… history with that gentleman. It is an old story, and I dare not repeat it."

"Alright then, I won't pry any further if that's what you want." I shrugged. "Now, how does lunch sound?"

*v*v*v*

*v*v*v*

I sat down beneath a large tree, watching the owl circle around in the sky. I took a bite of my roll and sighed. This new owl companion of mine was interesting. My thoughts were interrupted when a hellish roar split the air.

"What was that?!" I shouted.

"What was what?" A nearby person asked.

"You're telling me you didn't hear that?"

"Don't bother. They were not able to hear the roar of the hollow." The owl said, perching on my shoulder.

"What in God's name is a hollow?" I asked.

"Hollows are corrupted spirits that devour the souls of the living. The one of main jobs of the zanpakuto and their wielders, the Soul Reapers, is to cleanse the hollows and send them to the Soul Society."

"Soul Society?"

"The place where souls reside. The afterlife if you will."

"Right. So normal people can't even see or hear hollows?"

"Correct. They can see hollows no better than they can see me or any other spirit."

"So how come I've not seen any spirits?"

"The Soul Reapers are clearly doing their job well." The bird shrugged before turning his head skyward. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear…"

I looked up as a black shape darted from one of the buildings out of view. "I'm guessing that was a Soul Reaper?"

The bird nodded. "He is responsible for this area. The Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo's a Soul Reaper?" I asked. "Well that's very interesting. How did you know this?"

"As I've said, I have a history with Mr Kurosaki. One I do not wish repeated."

I heard footsteps behind the tree I was leaning against. I looked behind the large brown trunk to see a woman with a black robe and a sword strapped to her waist stepping through the crowded area, yet completely unnoticed!

"Who is that?"

"Rukia Kuchki. Adopted sister to the noble, Byakuya Kuchki. Currently the Lieutenant of Squad Thirteen under Captain Ukitake."

"You certainly know a lot about this Soul Society." I said, feeding the bird a little leftover ham.

"We must be wary if she is around. She may alert my presence to not just Ichigo, but perhaps the Soul Society as well."

*v*v*v*

*v*v*v*

School proceeded as normally until the final bell for the day rang out. With the owl perched on my shoulder, we walked back to my house. That is until a loud roaring rang out directly behind me.

"What the hell?!" I shouted, whirling around. A huge monster stood in the middle of the road on four elephant like feet, and two huge tusks jutted out from its stark white mask. The thing roared again and charged at me, giant feet cracking the concrete below it.

"Run Kazaki!" screeched the owl, spreading its wings wide and pushing off my shoulder. "I will handle this!"

"What?! I can't just leave you!" I shouted.

"You must! You are not strong enough to defeat him!"

The owl swooped around the hollow, pecking and tearing at the hollow with sharp beak and talons. The hollow roared in pain, slamming its large head into the owl.

"No!" I shouted. Running to the owl, I caught him in mid fall and ran with all the strength in my legs. "Don't worry. Even if I can't fight, I'm getting you out of here!"

The owl mumbled something, but I couldn't really hear it. The raging hollow was coming ever closer, its giant feet beating the ground like a drum. Just when I thought it was about to catch me, I heard a slashing sound and a pained gurgle. Turning behind me, I saw a man in a green striped hat, a bloody sword in hand. The monster had disappeared as well!

"Thank you for that. Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Kisuke Urahara. Nice to meet you." He said cheerily, putting away the sword. "Thought I'm intrigued about who that friend of yours is."

"Well… I don't know who he is. All he's told me is that he'll tell me his name if I prove to him that I am worthy of something."

The man in the green hat thought for a minute and gestured me to follow him. "I can heal him. Just come with me to my shop and we'll get started."

*v*v*v*

*v*v*v*

The man, who had told me his name was Kisuke Urahara, took us to a small, unassuming shop and told me to wait inside while the bird was being healed. While that was going on, I looked around the shop. To the average observer, it looked just like an ordinary candy shop. Nothing special about it really. The man walked back in and gestured me to follow him into the back room. As we sat down, we discussed the owl.

"It would appear your new friend is a rogue zanpakuto spirit. Though which one I cannot say."

"A zanpakuto spirit? What is that?"

"A zanpakuto is a spirit that comes from inside the soul reaper, an imprint of their soul onto the Asauchi that the low rank soul reapers use."

"But the owl is a rogue one?"

"A rogue zanpakuto spirit is one that is either rejected by its masted or has rejected its master. Both of these options are unforgivable for either soul reaper or zanpakuto."

"Unforgivable?"

"Though your companion as you call it seems to be a special case. I'm pretty certain that he was destroyed by its previous master."

"Destroyed? What kind of madman would willingly destroy a part of their own soul?!"

"But more importantly, how did it reform itself." Kisuke said, lost in thought. "I suppose you can go see him now."

I thanked Kisuke and went into a back room where the owl was testing its wings. "Thank you for bringing me here. I think I may have been destroyed if it were not for you."

"Don't mention it. I don't think I could have left you there even if I tried."

The owl was staring at me with its large silver eyes. "It would seem that you are worthy indeed. More worthy than my last master turned out to be."

"Yes, but worthy of what?" I asked again. "You haven't told me anything about you. Not even your name!"

"Ah, yes. My name." the bird mused. "My name is Kyoka Suigetsu. From this day forth, you shall wield me as your own zanpakuto."


End file.
